Way-bill.



J. L. TATE.

WAY BILL. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1913.

1,095,435, Patented May 5, 1914.

RECEIVED SHIPMENT REPRESENTED HEREON DATE 01 W/T/VESSES I I/VVENTOR COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH :0. WASHINGTON, D. c.

FFIC.

WAY-BILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1914:.

Application filed August 5, 1913. Serial No. 783,203.

T 0 all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, JOHN LINCOLN TATE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have-invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Way-Bills, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to an improved way bill.

While the invention is of a character, susceptible of a wide range of uses and adaptations, it is primarily designed for service in connection with waybilling express and freight shipments.

Among the various objects of the present invention may be briefly mentioned the saving of time, labor and expense incident to the present practice of waybilling shipments; avoiding errors in waybilling and record entries; simplifying and insuring perfect identification of the package or ar ticle billed, and by its use reducing the necessity of a large force of assistants in express or freight'offices.

Other equally important improvements, advantages, etc., over systems and practices at present in vogue in .waybilling will be more fully brought out in the detailed description to follow, but to more thoroughly appreciate and understand the invention, it will be necessary to first briefly consider the present practice employed in most of the large express offices, which practice has been followed for a great many years.

It is customary for the express agent to have the package which has been left for shipment first weighed and the weight indicated on 'the package. The packages are then taken up by a calling clerk who calls off to a bill clerk the data found on the package, such as the names and addresses,

weight, the amount prepaid or for collection, character of'contents of the package or shipment and value. The billing clerk enters this data as it is called ofi onto a blank form of waybill (making two carbons) which constitutes the record of the package, both as to details and as to identification. He, the billing clerk, also adds to the blank form, such other data, as is necessary, 2'. 6., place of shipment, date, number of packages, clerks number and waybill number. The original of this waybill is forwarded to the receiving agency with the package and a copy retained at the forwarding agency. Thereupon other employees of the forwarding agency make out an abstract or statement sheet of the various waybills, say for a day week or a month, according to the size of the oflice and the amount of business transacted and the abstract or statement sheet or a copy thereof is forwarded to the general auditor at the main or home office of the express company.

When the forwarded packages are received at the receiving station where they are to be" delivered to the consignee, such receiving agent after the transaction has been completed by the delivery of the shipmentto, the consignee and the" taking of a receipt upon an extra copy of the waybill or upon a delivery sheet written up from the waybills of this and other shipments, forwards to the auditor at the main or home ofiice the original waybill and a statement upon which it is entered, and the auditor checks the same up with the statement or abstract sheet previously sent to him by the forwarding agent.

The above practice while having proven satisfactory to a large extent is very expensive, takes considerable time, makes necessary a large force of employees, but perhaps the most serious objection is the likelihood of errors in the calling off and the making out of waybills and the record sheets of the billing transaction, etc.

It has been ascertained that the average number of waybills made out by the bill clerk is not more than fifty per hour; therefore, the necessity of a large number of bill clerks and calling clerks, and this partly emphasizes the aims and objects of the present invention by the provision of which the services of practically the entire corps of billing clerks and many assistants are dispensed with, the calling system eliminated, as well as the likelihood of errors due to calling and entering the various indicating data found on the packages or shipments. The more hands employed in making the necessary entries and records from the package, and the more items to be copied theretimes, days and even months lapse before it is ascertained that a package has become lost or is not delivered to the consignee, and this information usually comes in the nature of a complaint from the consignee himself, and after it has become quite difficult, if not impossible, to trace the shipment. When this information is received, it becomes nec essary for the receiving agent to report the matter to the home office and the auditor thereupon calls upon the forwarding agent for the copy of the waybill in his possession, and such report as he is able to give as to the shipment. Even if the. copies of the waybill are accurately assorted and filed away it takes considerable time to locate a particular bill, especially in view of the large amount of business usually transacted at an express office. Again, it is impossible to give an accurate and exact description of the article from the limited description on the waybill and the word of the sender, together with his receipt, must be largely relied upon in the settlement of any claim for the lost shipment.

Vith the present invention the home office or auditing department is advised promptly or immediately after the forwarding of the shipment of the entire transaction by original entries; the date, character of the ship ment and the agency from which the shipment has been forwarded, together with the name and address of the consignee, and this firsthand information is conveyed directly and immediately to the receiving agent, together with a charge against his office, thus avoiding many of the objections incident to the former practice.

To more readily understand the invention, reference is directed to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof and in which is disclosed a convenient embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that the drawing is for illustrative purposes only and various changes may be made in mat ters of detail and in carrying out the spirit of the invention.

In the single figure of the drawing there is represented a Waybill embodying the in vention. This waybill comprises conveniently a waybill sheet A, of any suit-able material, but conveniently an exposed sheet of photographic paper, of a size to constitute a waybill. On the surface of the sheet is a photographic reproduction of the package or article to be shipped, indicated as a wrapped package, with its face and all of the waybill indicating data thereon exposed. In addition to the usual indications found on a package left for shipment there is placed on the package or adjacent thereto and included in the photo, the date of shipment, as well as the place of shipment, as clearly represented in the drawing. There has also been placed on the face of the package the name, and address of the sender, the weight as indicated at 4, the number of the package as indicated at 5, and data which under the previous practice was applied to the general made up waybill.

From the above it will be ascertained readily that the subject matter photographically represented on the paper sheet rep resents accurately all of the data which heretofore has been entered upon a Waybill blank, and so as original entries. The shipment itself or representative portions or pieces of it will be photographically reproduced, thereby constituting a permanent record as to the shape, character and condition of the shipment. This is important in the case of identification, as will. be obvious.

It is desirable that the waybill as above produced have also a blank form of receipt thereon. This may be accomplished by placing on the waybill sheet a blank form B containing the words Received shipment represented hereon, and Date and a blank space for the consignees signature and the date of receipt.

in carrying out the method of producing this Waybill, the package which has been re ceived for shipment is first weighed in the usual manner and the weight is penciled or printed on the face of the package in a position to be photographically reproduced wit-h the reproduction of the package, all markings being made clear. The clerk then applies to the package the number; a label having the inscription Collect or Prepaid as the case may be; the amount due for transportation charge is then legibly marked on the face of the package and the date may be either marked on the face of the package or placed on the package as shown or as desirable, adjacent to the package for pho tographic reproduction with the package. Associated with the package is the blank form B placed near the shipment and so arranged as to be reproduced photographically with the photographic reproduction of the package. In this condition the package is positioned in front of a camera (and in this connection any well known modern type of camera can be employed, conveniently those which are used for a positive reproduction on the paper direct). After exposure the sheet is developed (conveniently with a socalled instantaneous developing device of any well known type) and the prepared sheet with its portrayed reproduction, constitutes in effectthe wa-ybill which, as will be appreciated, is one of accuracy and possesses many essential characteristics which render the same highly efficient for the purposes intended. The original waybill is designed to be forwarded direct to the receiving agent, and a copy is sent to the auditing department at the home office, while a list of the packages to be sent to the receiving office may be made out and held at the forwarding oflice so that the agent at that point can be advised as to the packages forwarded by him. By supplying the general auditor with a copy of the way bill the receiving agent cannot without detection do away with the package or alter the waybill. All packages marked Collect with the amount written on the packages are charged to the receiving ofiice, and all packages prepaid are charged to the shipping ofiice. By this means the auditing ofiice is provided with an instrumentality whereby a perfect check can be had on the two offices, and further a delayed or lost package can be noted promptly and investigation as to its whereabouts started before complaint is noted by the consignee or shipper. Again, by having the package photographed, copies can be made thereof at will for the purpose of tracing and subsequent identification.

There are many advantages, from a standpoint of economy, efl'ected by the use of the waybill and absolute accuracy is practically assured. The number of employees now required at the more important oflices of ex press companies can be materially reduced, the uncertainty of entries through the calling system is wholly avoided and the rapidity with whichthese waybills can be produced or made out is such as to greatly expedite the handling of shipments of goods by express.

From experience it has been demonstrated that while under the old system it required practically one minutes time to prepare and enter the data from the package on a waybill, under the proposed method, packages can be handled at the rate of sixty and even a greater number per minute.

Obviously, if desired, any number of duplicates may be taken of the package and its associated entries or data, and such dupli cate may be retained by the shipping o'lfice or forwarded with the shipment as a receipt.

Other uses can be made of the invention and many advantageous results derived therefrom.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A waybill for express shipments or the like consisting of a sheet of photographic paper having thereon a photographic reproduction of the package or article to be shipped, with the date of shipment, and the designating data including the name and address of the consignee and consignor, the weight of the package or article, place of shipment, and the data as to the charge. 2. A waybill for express shipments or the like consisting of a sheet of photographic paper having thereon a photographic reproduction of the package or article to be shipped, with the date of shipment and the designating data including the name and address of the consignee and consignor, the weight of the package or article, place of shipment and the number of the package.

8. A waybill for express shipments or the 7 like consisting of a photographic paper sheet haying thereon a photographic reproduction of the package or article being sent, together with a similar reproduction of the designating express waybill data associated with the package or article.

4. A waybill for express and other shipments consisting of a sheet of photographic paper having a photographic reproduction of the package or article to be shipped, said reproduction having on its face photographic waybill indications representing charges, weight, number, consignees and consignors name and address, and the date of shipment associated therewith.

5. A combined waybill and receipt, for express and other packages comprising a sheet of photographic paper having thereon a photographic reproduction of the package or article to be shipped, said photographic reproduction including waybill data appearing on the address part of the package and said sheet also having thereon a photographed receipt part with an appropriately designated space for the signature of the consignee.

6. A way bill for shipments consisting of a photographic paper sheet having thereon a photographic representation of the shipment together with designating shipment waybill data associated with the shipment, and an entry space beyond said representation.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN LINCOLN TATE.

Witnesses:

WALLACE DONALD MoLnAN, BRANCH P. Knaroor.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G." 

